HUNTINGTON -- After months of discussion and a healthy debate Friday, Marshall Community and Technical College Board of Governors decided on a new name for the college -- Mountwest Community and Technical College.

The new name was chosen in a 6-3 vote, with board member Mike Herron abstaining. The board's decision was based on the school's physical location within the state and its ability to keep the acronym MCTC. The decision must be approved by the state.

Friday's board meeting offered mixed opinions about the new name. The three who voted against the new name -- Jim Hale, Donna Donathon and Mark George -- said they felt the other choice brought before the board, Western West Virginia Community and Technical College, was better.

Herron said he didn't like either name and refused to vote between the two choices.

As faculty representative on the board, Donathon said she couldn't vote for Mountwest because it was against the wishes of a large majority of faculty members. Most teachers, Donathon said, were in favor of Western West Virginia.

Board members Bob Bailey, Jeff Porter, Jason Moses, Criss Nance, Mark Bugher and Monica Schafer voted in favor of Mountwest. Board member Ruth Cline was absent and board Chairwoman Sue Richardson doesn't vote.

Several board members gave reports of how MCTC staff, administration, faculty and students felt about the names. While faculty overwhelmingly supported Western West Virginia, staff and administration overwhelming supported Mountwest, which also received a lot of support from students.

MCTC President Keith Cotroneo said he likes the new name and appreciates everyone's strong opinions.

"Whenever you make a shift in a name, it can be somewhat controversial," Cotroneo said.

A new name for the school has been one of the most debated issues on the board in recent months. Feeling it needed as much input as possible, the board created a subcommittee to determine how MCTC personnel and students felt about the name.

The subcommittee developed a list of names after more than 100 suggestions were submitted online by the public. The list was narrowed to seven and was sent out for students' opinions. In a survey of more than 450 MCTC students, Mountwest was among the favorites.

The administration selected the top two names to bring to the board.

Chris Michael, president and CEO of Bulldog Creative Services, helped develop logos and an identity for those. Of the final two choices, Michael said Mountwest was a much better fit for the college. The name refers to the location of the school being in the Mountain State and located in the western portion of the state and also allows the school to keep the acronym MCTC.

Keeping the recognizable acronym, Michael said, is important in order to keep a specific brand and identity in the community. MCTC, board members said, has been advertised for years and has become recognizable.

"I feel very strongly in continuing the MCTC branding," said Moses.

"(We) feel very strongly about separating ourselves from Marshall (University)," said Porter.

The new name works even better, Michael said, if MCTC chooses the former Arch Coal building as the school's new location. The building is located atop a hill overlooking Interstate 64 at the 5th Street Road Exit. No decision has been made as to which location MCTC will choose.

Board members expressed concern about naming the school Western West Virginia. Concerns included the repetitiveness of the name, its name relation to the Western Regional Jail in Barboursville and the difficulty in finding a domain name for the school's Web site.

The board decided to continue discussions on the final logo and school colors with the new name.

MCTC was required by a 2008 state law to separate from Marshall University, which led to the college coming up with a new name.

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